The British Post Office Needs 25 Year Contract With UK Banks!

The future of the UK Post Office is going to get a significant amount of attention in 2026, as the UK Government reports the results of a consultation started in July 2025.

In thinking about the future of the Post Office, this article struck a chord. In it, the CEO of Cash Access UK ( ex Lloyds Banking Group) is quoted as “seeking to break the Post Office monopoly” of Banking Hubs.

Cash Access UK is now seemingly rushing to reach their pathetically low target of 350 Banking Hubs asap, with cynics /experts feeling that as soon as that target is reached, the closure programme will begin…

However, there is a wider issue exposed here and it is that Boards of the major UK banks have effectively been trying to “break” the Post Office for decades.

Ever since those banks started closing their branches in the 1990’s, they have seen the Post Office as a HUGE threat.

The Post Office today has more than TWICE the number of branches than the TOTAL operated by the Big Five Banks - and with bank branch closures continuing apace, that lead for the Post Office will soon extend to THREE times as many branches.

Since the 1990’s, UK banks have:

* ditched Girobank, the “peoples bank” which was operated via Post Offices;
* suppressed the number of ATMs at Post Offices;
* blocked for around 20 years the Post Office joining the LINK ATM Scheme;
* fought against the Blair Government setting-up a 3000 branch Post Office Bank;
* persuaded the Cameron Government to ditch the “Post Office Bank” entirely.

However, what the Cameron Government did do as a positive step was to effectively freeze further Post Office closures and confirm clear geographic criteria for the coverage of the UK by Post Office branches.

So there were 11,500 Post Offices in 2010 and there are slightly more now in 2026.

The potential for the Post Office to provide face-to-face banking services in the UK is HUGE - and it must NOT be wasted. Such a branch network is unique - and will never be created again.

The Post Office is a limited company entirely owned by the UK Government. It exists to serve the British public.

What the Government must do is to ensure the fate of the Post Office cannot be decided by the Boards of the Big Five Banks.

The Government must use its authority to convert the current five year “Framework Agreement” between the Post Office and the banks to a TWENTY FIVE contract, continuing until 2050. All financial arrangements would be subject to RPI + annual adjustments.

It’s not the “monopoly” of the Government-owned Post Office that is a concern. The real concern is that the ability of the Post Office to deliver services - including financial services - to 11,500 or more communities around the UK could be threatened by the Big Five Banks that long ago decided that they were not interested in providing services of any kind in those communities.

Source: thetimes.com/article/d8910edf-dcad-4f08-88c3-45ecdc524289?shareToken=2cf5693bbf99f1f170a5ef7e4b990283